Nitrate leaching from cattle urine and feces in northeast USA
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Authors: W. L. Stout, S. A. Fales, L. D. Muller, R. R. Schnabel, W. E. Priddy, and G. F. Elwinger
Date: 1997
Journal: Soil Science Society of America Journal
Volume: 61
Number:
Pages: 1787-1794
Summary of Methods: In a Pennsylvania field study, Stout et al. measured NO3-N leaching loss from spring-, summer-, and fall-applied urine and summer-applied fecal beneath N-fertilized orchardgrass (Dactyls glomerata) using drainage lysimeters. Urine N concentration reflected the N content of the herbage in the pastures and was highest in the spring or fall. The leachate patterns were similar for all 3 years of the study. Leachate volumes were lower during the grazing season when evapotranspiration was the highest and increased in the fall as evapotranspiration decreased. The pattern of NO3-N losses averaged for the 3 years of the study were 1.17, 1.68, 22.0, 24.0, and 31.5 g m-2 for the control, feces, and spring-, summer-, and fall-applied urine, respectively. The authors caution if dairy farmers in this region continue to increase the utilization of management intensive grazing, the amount of N leached to the groundwater from beneath urine patches could become substantial unless mitigated by improved grazing management.
Article Summary / Main Points: None
Vegetation Types:
MLRA Ecoregions:
Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Rangelands Wildlife
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: management intensive grazing (mig), nitrate leaching, urine, feces, orchardgrass, dactyls glomerata, dairy farms, groundwater
Annotation: Cattle grazed the pasture until the sward height was reduced to 7.5 cm. The lysimeters were managed by cutting the herbage to 7.5 cm with electric grass shears at the same time the paddocks were grazed.
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